1. What is Lynne Cox's perspective in this passage from Swimming to Antarctica?

If you continue swimming, you're going to cool down even more. Remember how hard you shivered last time? Remember how much work it was? Remember how uncomfortable you were? This is the place where people make mistakes, when they're tired and cold and they push too far into the unknown. (1 point)
She has gone far enough.
She should try to go on.
She should never have started the swim.
She should take a break.
2. Why is the following passage from “Contents of the Dead Man's Pocket” suspenseful?

For a single moment he knelt, knee bones against stone on the very edge of the ledge, body swaying and touching nowhere else, fighting for balance. Then he lost it, his shoulders plunging backward, and he flung his arms forward, his hands smashing against the window casing on either side; and—his body moving backward—his fingers clutched the narrow wood stripping of the upper pane. (1 point)
Tom is in a dangerous spot.
It makes readers think Tom is going to fall.
Tom finally falls from the ledge.
The author doesn't tell what happens.
3. Which of the following is an example of internal conflict in "Contents of the Dead Man's Pocket"? (1 point)
Tom's efforts to get a promotion at work
Tom's struggle to stay on the ledge
Tom's attempts to get someone's attention
Tom's struggle to overcome his fear
4. What is the tone of this selection from "How to React to Familiar Faces"?

I might as well have grabbed Anthony Quinn by the lapel, dragged him to a phone booth, and called a friend to say, "Talk about coincidence! I've run into Anthony Quinn. And you know something? He seems real!" (1 point)
regretful
humorous
angry
self-critical
5. In "Making History with Vitamin C," what development made scurvy more commonplace at sea?
(1 point)
The Vikings raided the Atlantic coast of Europe, bringing the disease with them.
More efficient sets of sails and fully rigged ships made longer voyages possible.
Sailors began eating salted meat and hardtack more than in the past.
The use of pitch to seal wooden ships made fire a great danger.
6. Which line from "The Leap" is an example of foreshadowing?
(1 point)
The catlike precision of her movements in old age might be the result of her early training …
I have lived in the West, where you can see the weather coming for miles …
I hear the crackle, catch a whiff of smoke from the stove downstairs, and suddenly the room goes dark …
It was while the two were in midair, their hands about to meet, that lightning struck the main pole …
7. Which of the following alternative titles best represents the author's purpose in "The Marginal World"?
(1 point)
"Appreciating the Spectacle of Life"
"Exploring the Ancient Shore"
"Ghost Crabs and Periwinkles"
"The Dual Nature of the Shore"
8. In "The Monkey's Paw," which line spoken by Mr. White hints that the wishes can only change his life for the worse? (1 point)
"And what is there special about it?"
"It seems to me I've got all I want."
"There's no harm done, but it gave me a shock all the same."
"The things happened so naturally …"
9. What is the best statement of the theme of "Civil Peace"? (1 point)
Poverty breeds crime and despair.
War ruins the lives of survivors.
Where there is life there is hope.
Honesty is the best policy.
10. What is Achebe's philosophical assumption about survival? (1 point)
Survival without money and other possessions is meaningless.
It is important to fight criminals, even at the cost of one's own life.
In order to survive, one must be able to let go of what has been lost.
One must find a way to hold onto money and possessions in order to survive.
11. Which occurs when the reader knows something that a character or speaker does not? (1 point)
situational irony
verbal irony
dramatic irony
paradox
12. Which sentence best describes a paradox in "The Censors"? (1 point)
Juan tries to save Mariana, but can't.
Censorship ruins people's lives.
Some letters contain dangerous ideas; others do not.
Juan becomes the very thing he fears.
13. Both "Like the Sun" and "The Censors" explore themes related to (1 point)
betrayal and death.
greed and power.
honesty and deception.
knowledge and ignorance.
14. Why is "The Masque of the Red Death" an allegory? (1 point)
Everyone dies in the end.
The theme is ambiguous.
All of the characters and settings are symbolic.
The story teaches a lesson about good and evil.
15. In "There Will Come Soft Rains," what mood is created by a setting in which all domestic functions are performed by machines and none by human beings? (1 point)
cheerful and exhilarating
repulsive and horrifying
homey and reassuring
impersonal and chilling
16. Which of the following details most clearly supports the main idea of the excerpt from In Commemoration: One Million Volumes? (1 point)
In 1981, the university library had one million volumes.
Anaya always knew there were at least a million stars.
When he was a child, Anaya learned his prayers in Spanish.
Anaya believes a library should be the cultural center of a city.
17. What is this passage from "A Toast to the Oldest Inhabitant" an example of?

He not only had weather enough, but weather to spare; weather to hire out; weather to sell; to deposit; weather to invest; weather to give to the poor. (1 point)
hyperbole
conflict
understatement
an unexpected event
18. What is a rhetorical device? (1 point)
a way to test a writer's logic and reasoning
a translation that is difficult for readers to understand
a question intended to have an obvious answer
a word-pattern that creates emphasis and emotion
19. What was Solzhenitsyn's main purpose in writing "Nobel Lecture"? (1 point)
to praise the European community of writers
to denounce the horrors of Soviet oppression
to make a gracious acceptance for a major award
to articulate his understanding of the writer's role
20. How can a reader test the logic of a writer's appeals? (1 point)
by thinking about how another writer might support the same claims
by identifying which rhetorical devices the author uses most frequently
by eliminating opinions from the essay and analyzing the facts for logic
by considering how the writer's evidence supports his or her points
21. What is Wiesel's central argument in "Keep Memory Alive"? (1 point)
People must speak out against all oppression and injustice.
People must stay neutral in arguments that do not concern them.
People must speak for the dead, who cannot speak for themselves.
People must remember what happened when they were children.
22. Wiesel writes, "Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." What rhetorical device is he using? (1 point)
repetition
parallelism
slogans and saws
rhetorical question
23. In what way is "The American Idea" an analytic essay? (1 point)
It examines two founders' differing interpretations of the American idea.
It entertains readers with interesting fictional accounts of historical figures.
It expresses White's point of view about the meaning of the American idea.
It attempts to persuade people around the world to adopt the American idea.
24. In "The American Idea," White supports his interpretation of the American idea with the words of Thomas Jefferson. What type of persuasive appeal is he using? (1 point)
appeal to authority
appeal to reason
emotional appeal
appeal to shared values
25. Why is "The Spider and the Wasp" an expository essay? (1 point)
It explains a natural phenomenon to readers.
It persuades readers to try to save tarantulas.
It contains the author's memory of a meaningful time in his life.
It entertains readers with fascinating fictional stories about insects.
26. During which period of American history did John Steinbeck publish Of Mice and Men? (1 point)
World War I
the Roaring 20s
the Great Depression
the post-World War II era
27. When Lennie visits Crooks, Crooks brings up the possibility that George will abandon Lennie. What best describes Crooks’s motivation for doing this? (1 point)
He wants Lennie to learn to become more self-sufficient.
He wants to hurt Lennie because his isolation has made him bitter.
He dislikes George and wants to undermine George and Lennie’s friendship.
He believes that George will eventually tire of caring for Lennie.
Which detail about Lennie foreshadows the fate of Curley’s wife in Of Mice and Men?
28. (1 point)
Although he is developmentally disabled, he is very good at manual labor.
He has no permanent home but dreams of owning a farm with George.
He has trouble remembering simple information that George communicates to him.
When he pets small animals, he accidentally kills them because he is so strong.
29. When George gives in to Lennie’s frequent demand, “Tell me about the rabbits,” he always begins by saying that he and Lennie are not like other migrant farm workers. In what way do they regard themselves as different? (1 point)
They have no blood relatives.
They can look beyond race and social class.
They travel together and look out for each other.
They believe they are too good to do manual labor.
30. Which of these is NOT a major theme in the novel Of Mice and Men? (1 point)
Affection and companionship are fundamental human needs.
With hard work, anyone can achieve the American dream.
Even with careful planning, life can go disastrously wrong.
Everyone needs a sense of self-respect and dignity.
31. The title of Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart is a reference to which work of literature? (1 point)
William Butler Yeats’s “The Second Coming”
William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness
the New Testament of the Bible
32. Which detail BEST explains why Okonkwo shows no emotion after killing Ikemefuna? (1 point)
He does not believe in questioning the customs of the Ibo.
He believes it would be unmanly to show sadness or regret.
He has always felt closer to his biological son, Nwoye, than to Ikemefuna.
He is following the advice of his close friend Obierika.
33. To what does the term chi refer in Things Fall Apart?
(1 point)
the inevitability of suffering in life
a personal god that controls one’s fate
a man’s sense of strength and pride
the need to uphold time-honored tribal traditions
34. Things Fall Apart concludes by presenting the inner thoughts of the District Commissioner. The Commissioner imagines writing a book about the Ibo, in which he will devote a paragraph or two to the story of Okonkwo’s suicide. What is the MOST likely purpose for Achebe’s ending the novel in this way?
(1 point)
to emphasize that there are always two sides to any conflict
to add a lighter, humorous note with a satirical character portrayal
to show the ignorance and insensitivity of the “civilized” missionaries
to show that the missionaries sincerely tried to understand the Ibo culture but failed
35. Which detail is the BEST justification for viewing Okonkwo as a tragic hero?
(1 point)
He is forced to go into exile in Mbanta after a fatal accident.
His violent impulses and unwillingness to accept change lead to his death.
His actions and personality largely stem from his desire not to be like his father.
He and Nwoye become like strangers after Nwoye’s conversion to Christianity.
Vocabulary and Grammar
36. Lynne Cox's achievement was novel because (1 point)
nobody had ever done it before.
someone had written a book about it.
it was extremely dangerous.
it took a lot of training.
37. Identify an abstract noun in the following sentence.

I stared across the icy water . . . and felt excitement building within me. (1 point)
icy
water
building
excitement
38. Tom moves "almost imperceptibly" along the ledge. Imperceptibly means that he is moving (1 point)
backwards.
so slowly that the movement can hardly be seen.
hand over hand.
with an extremely careful, shuffling motion.
39. Which statement is spoken in a colloquial manner? (1 point)
"And I'm going to show you that it ain't no trouble when you pack double."
"You ask for what you want, and you pay for what you get."
"God helps those who help themselves."
"Life is going to give you just what you put in it."
40. Which sentence contains a proper noun? (1 point)
From opposite sides of the tent they waved, blind and smiling, to the crowd below.
My mother once said that I'd be amazed at how many things a person can do within the act of falling.
Anna was pregnant at the time, seven months and hardly showing, her stomach muscles were that strong.
Once my father and mother married, they moved onto the old farm he had inherited but didn't care much for.
41. In which sentence is the word furtively used correctly? (1 point)
The sergeant major spoke furtively of his time in India.
The man from Maw and Meggins looked furtively at Mrs. White without speaking.
Mrs. White shouted furtively at her husband as the knocks on the door continued.
Herbert played the piano furtively as Mr. White made his wish.
42. Which of the following sentences contains a linking verb? (1 point)
Jonathan is surprised to find his house intact.
Maria sells breakfast akara balls to earn money.
Jonathan carefully keeps his money out of sight.
The leader of the thieves demands 100 pounds.
43. Which of the following sentences is written in passive voice? (1 point)
Prospero angrily attacks the uninvited guest.
Prince Prospero tries to escape the Red Death.
The guests wander freely from room to room during the masquerade.
The Red Death is characterized by bleeding from the pores of the skin.
44. The house was the only building that still _______ in a city of rubble and ashes. (1 point)
stands
standing
stood
standed
45. In which of the following sentences is the irregular verb rise used correctly? (1 point)
The next morning, the sun rose over a ruined city.
The next morning, the sun risen over a ruined city.
The next morning, the sun rising over a ruined city.
The next morning, the sun rised over a ruined city.
46. Which of the following sentences contains a predicate nominative? (1 point)
Anaya is an inspired novelist.
Anaya loves words, books, and libraries.
Anaya values his culture and heritage.
Anaya finds libraries to be inspiring.
47. Which of the following sentences contains a predicate adjective? (1 point)
Books contain infinite worlds.
Libraries are relaxing and informative.
A library should be the heart of a city.
There are a million volumes in the library.
48. Which of the following is the correct way to form the superlative of the adverb forcefully? (1 point)
forceful
forcefullest
more forcefully
most forcefully
49. What is the direct object in the following sentence?